Mufferaw name sacked by Redblacks

CFL team changes mascot’s moniker following criticism from francophone fans

The Ottawa Redblacks named their new mascot, Big Joe Mufferaw today at the …cole ÈlÈmentaire publique Kanata on March 28, 2014. Photo by Meggie Sylvester/Ottawa Citizen

OTTAWA — Fumble!

The Ottawa Redblacks have modified the name of their mascot mere days after identifying him as Big Joe Mufferaw, and, no, it’s not an attempt to pull off an early April Fool’s joke.

Intended to connect with local fans and to strike fear in visiting Canadian Football League opponents, the super-sized, axe-wielding figure will now be known as “Big Joe” in English and “Grand Jos” in French.

The swift change followed a wave of criticism, largely from francophones, after Friday’s name announcement at a Kanata school. Big Joe Mufferaw, the team said, had been an overwhelming favourite among online submissions after the larger-than-life character was unveiled in February.

“We unintentionally offended some with the original name, and we sincerely apologize for that,” Jeff Hunt, president of the sports division of Ottawa Sports & Entertainment Group, said in a media release. “We hope to create a fan base that is unified in its support for the Redblacks, and we will continue to strive to do our best in that regard.”

That said, what is it about the naming of sports teams and mascots that is so hard in the national capital?

Ottawa’s National Basketball League of Canada team went from Tomahawks to SkyHawks in the span of about five weeks last year because of criticism that it was offensive to aboriginals, although that club’s mascot was subsequently dubbed “Tommy.”

During Friday’s fanfare at École élémentaire publique Kanata, Hunt said the 1960s children’s book series Tall Tales of Big Joe Mufferaw by Valley author Bernie Bedore had inspired OSEG to conduct that event at a school. It was, he added, part of an effort to attract a new generation of Canadian football fans.However, Hunt also noted, not all mascots prove to be marketable. The owner of the Ottawa 67’s for many years before becoming an OSEG partner, he recalled when the major-junior hockey team introduced a Killer Puck mascot.

“Kids were intimidated by him because he had these big, scary teeth, so you can get mascots wrong,” Hunt said Friday. “But you can also get mascots right, and I think we’ve achieved that here.”

Besides Bedore’s book series, Big Joe Mufferaw was the title character of a 1970 song by Canadian music icon Stompin’ Tom Connors.

However, “Mufferaw” represented a somewhat sloppy English pronunciation of Joseph Montferrand, a real-life Ottawa Valley lumberjack who became a French-Canadian legend for his reputed raftmanship and strength and was celebrated in stories and songs by La Bolduc and Gilles Vigneault. In Gatineau the courthouse is located in the downtown Edifice Jos Montferrand.

“The most important thing, regardless of anything else, is the choice of the figure itself,” Bertrand Labasse, a French writing and communications professor at the University of Ottawa, said Monday. “Then the name was an issue (for francophones). It’s a very wise move to name him Big Joe and Grand Jos. I think it solves the question.”

The Redblacks certainly hope so. The CFL expansion club has made concerted efforts to generate ticket sales and corporate sponsorship in the Outaouais and francophone markets that were mostly ignored in the final years of the Ottawa Rough Riders franchise that folded in 1996, and for the entire 2002-2005 lifespan of the Ottawa Renegades.

OSEG developed for its football club a separate French-language logo and brand, Ottawa Rouge et Noir. A media conference to announce the signing of former University of Ottawa Gee-Gees receiver Simon Le Marquand was held in Gatineau, and in March the team announced a French radio broadcast deal with Ottawa station Unique FM. General manager Marcel Desjardins, the first employee hired for the football operations staff, is bilingual.

Media relations manager Barre Campbell said “several” complaints were received over the Mufferaw name, although he said he didn’t have an exact number, and a large portion of those complaints had come from francophones.

“We received feedback, and we are not in the business of offending people, for sure,” he said. “We want our product to be fair … and inclusive of everybody, all our fans.”

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